A 16-year-old Hawthorne boy was attacked by multiple people this month in a brutal assault that was captured in a video that is now circulating online.
The teenager went to Dockweiler State Beach on Feb. 10 to hang out with some friends at a party that had been posted on social media, his mother, Frankie, told KTLA-5. She asked the TV station not to disclose her or her son Donta’s last name.
“My son was helping a friend,” she told the TV station. “He helped get her up off the ground and then a guy just asked him to stop and then my son just wanted to help his friend. The guy asked him if he wanted to fight, and my son didn’t want to fight him.”
Donta was attacked by several other teens, who stabbed him three times and yelled homophobic and racist slurs, according to Frankie.
Video of the brutal incident has circulated online and shows the boy on the ground while several other people surround and kick and punch him.
Donta spent several days in the intensive care unit of a local hospital and suffered a concussion and punctured lungs.
The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed that officers responded to a report of an assault with a deadly weapon about 10:23 p.m. Feb. 10 in the 11400 block of Vista Del Mar.
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An ambulance was requested for a 16-year-old male, who was conscious and breathing but suffered from stab wounds, according to LAPD Officer Tony Im.
Police are looking for a suspect described as a male Hispanic, wearing a black ski mask, black leather jacket and black jeans.
Im said the investigation is ongoing and officers still have to determine the number of suspects. There wasn’t more information available to determine a potential motive or whether the victim and his attackers knew each other.
“During the interview, if there is more than one, then we will look for more than one,” he added.
Frankie has launched a GoFundMe page online to help pay for her son’s medical expenses, saying that he will need recovery procedures and surgeries.
“Donta is a wonderful young man who was simply enjoying time with friends before this unfortunate event,” she wrote on the GoFundMe page.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.